Serena Williams was knocked out of the US Open on Saturday after losing in three sets to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, 7-5, 6-7, 6-1. After losing the first set, the 40-year-old put in an outstanding performance to win the second. But Tomljanovic didn't give up. She fought back hard and won the third set and the match.
This week at the U.S. Open, Serena Williams took the court for the first time, raising the issue of how the greatest tennis player of all time would handle the expectations of what she hinted would be her final Grand Slam match. Four days and two prime-time matches later, it appeared as though the 40-year-old would embark on a fantastical, epic quest for a 24th major championship. But that dream came to an end on Friday night when Australian Ajla Tomljanovic defeated her in a sad three-set match. Nearly 24,000 spectators, who had filled Arthur Ashe Stadium, cheered her on throughout the entire match as she battled a rival who was 11 years her junior.
Williams wept on the court after the game and stated, "It’s been the most incredible ride and the journey I’ve ever been on in my life." The loss, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-1, probably signaled the end of a 27-year career that fundamentally altered how the world views and comprehends women in sports. Williams battled to the bitter finish, saving five match points, playing to the bitter end, and making every stroke matter as the match approached the three-hour mark.
This week, Williams has been the most popular attraction in New York this week, and that trend continued on Friday as some of the biggest stars in sports and popular culture attended a match. For a quarter of a century, Williams provided the ferocity, accuracy, and passion for the game that has defined her career for a quarter of a century for extended periods of time.
Years ago, it might have been sufficient on another night during a different season. However, on this occasion, only a few weeks before turning 41, Williams was unable to continue playing at the exceptional level that has propelled so many of her victories. When Tomljanovic, who had never played on this court in the largest arena in the sport, fell behind 5-3 in the first and second sets, she served for both sets and had four set points in the second. She went up against a crowd that was mostly rooting for Williams, but she was just as strong as her and was even tougher and more accurate.
"I just thought she would beat me," Tomljanovic said. "She’s the greatest of all time, period."
On the same court where she won her first major championship at age 17 in 1999, Williams suffered a loss. This week, the crowd flocked to Ashe to bid Williams farewell, but it became abundantly evident from each match that nobody wanted to see her leave tennis or the event she has won six times. Williams and her sister, Venus Williams, had just lost the doubles match the previous day. And on Friday, it was clear that Serena Williams was tired as the game went into the third set.
However, her performance this week would lead others to doubt if she really intended to quit. Williams demonstrated that she could still be excellent on a tennis court with three matches and eight sets of tennis over the course of five days that few will quickly forget. She has said that she wants to have a second kid but is unable to do it while performing and traveling.
She might have gone back to tennis. But Williams basically announced her intention to retire when she wrote in an essay that was published in Vogue magazine last month that she was "moving away from tennis." She hasn't changed the plan in her interviews with the media following matches at the Open, either.
Since suffering a hamstring injury at Wimbledon in 2021, Williams has seldom played. She announced in August that she would be competing in her final few events. She lost in the first round of Wimbledon in June, and a lucky run at the U.S. Open seemed impossible. She struggled to move well in three sets in Toronto and Cincinnati due to knee inflammation. Williams didn't give up, though. She worked on improving her lateral movement and trying to get back the timing and feel for the ball that let her play with an unmatched level of speed and aggression over a career that spanned parts of four decades.
Williams broke Tomljanovic for a 5-3 advantage, giving her a fantastic chance to win the opening set. But she was unable to complete it, and falling short seemed to frighten her. As Tomljanovic seized her chance to end the set with a forehand cross-court winner that Williams hardly moved for, Williams made a string of blunders, slamming balls long and into the net. In the first eight games of the set, Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner, forced the big-hitting Australian to backpedal over and over again. She took advantage of the crowd's excitement to get an early lead.
For the first 30 minutes, it appeared that Williams would continue to improve with each set, much like she had in her first two matches. However, two miscues on one of her trademark shots—her swinging forehand volley—and a shaky and inconsistent serve—did her in. 49 minutes later, she was in trouble. Williams, however, responds to a disadvantage like few other players do. When she is fit and healthy, Williams views losing a set almost as an insult since it is an assault on the air of invincibility that she will do anything to preserve.
And on Friday night, she accomplished just that. Her groans became more audible. Her serves are more forceful and accurate. She banged and stabbed several while diving across the sidewalk for another volley. She quickly built a 4-0 lead, faltered temporarily, but quickly recovered to the point where she was about to draw even. She served for the set again at 5-3 and had four set points when the score was 5-2, but she was unable to convert her opportunities. In the tiebreaker, though, Williams found a new level of energy. She pushed into the court, layered her strokes so closely to the lines, and won with a powerful backhand return of Tomljanovic's serve that the Australian was unable to return.
They moved on to the third set. Williams once again got off to a fast start by breaking Tomljanovic's serve in the opening game, but she wasted her advantage as her 40-year-old gas tank started to run low. Tomljanovic won six straight games. In the final game, Williams hit a fierce forehand winner and let loose a throat-busting scream, once again whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Tomljanovic let the cacophony wash over her once more before focusing on the task at hand. It would take her six match points to get Williams to make that fatal mistake, a shot into the net. Then it was finished.
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